Awkward Moments
by Kataoi
Summary: They always say "it's nothing more than that". But goofing off while doing homework has Amy and Rory musing their friendship and their denials.


Amy Pond looked up from the notebook she was scrawling down math homework in, her lips twisted with agony as she struggled to understand how in the world a number could be called "imaginary" but still mean something. She tapped her pencil against the paper before sighing.

"One more time."

Rory Williams frowned, picking at the spaces between his teeth with the tip of his own pencil. "Square root of negative one."

"That can't happen, so it shouldn't happen. Why does it happen?"

"…'cause?"

She snorted. "I'm not stupid."

"No, you're a ginger."

Puffing her cheeks, Amy picked up her eraser and chucked it across the table. Rory leapt at her movement before throwing his arms up, blocking the pink blob as it _thmp_ed harmlessly to the table. He was about to throw something back, but had to do a double-take when he saw her chair…empty.

He sat still for a brief moment before throwing himself out of his chair, right when a pair of hands grabbed his ankles. Try as he might, he could only get a few inches away, his socks proving a hindrance when he slipped and slumped to the floor.

Amy giggled at her successful catch before she lightly punched him in the arm. "Got'cha again, stupid face," she managed to get out through her laughs before rolling to the side and flopping onto her back on the floor. She stared up at the underside of the table, which was scrawled with crayon and marker drawings that Aunt Sharon had never found. They seemed like they were from last week, but were several years old by now.

"You really want to do that?" Rory deadpanned, wiping his hand across the floor and picking up a few bits of dust and dirt.

"What's the big deal? I'll take a shower later."

He made a face but shook his head, sighing and rolling his eyes before dropping on his back next to her. Amy glanced over at him and smiled, closing her eyes as she felt that slight little surge in her chest.

"Do you remember that?" she asked, pointing at a doodle. There was a boy in a raggedy blue shirt and a girl with red hair, standing on top of a planet and surrounded by stars. Rory squinted his eyes and felt the corners of his mouth tug higher. It was hard to fight off the smile that came from the memory.

Sure, it was from when they had played Raggedy Doctor and she made him dress up, and yes, there were times they got in trouble for it, like for shaving the neighbor's cat or making the duck pond turn green. But he couldn't deny that, well, it had been fun, and the memories came off as very fond.

"Uh, yeah," Rory droned, faking the dread. "Mum was furious at the mess in the garden."

"That was a piece of beauty."

"It was a mound of _mud_."

"Modern art!"

That broke him. He wrinkled his whole body in a laugh, rolling onto his side towards Amy. When he opened his eyes, he saw her staring back at him, eyebrows raised and curious.

"Rory."

He choked. "…Yeah?"

She opened her mouth and closed it halfway, her eyes unable to focus on him. "I've uh…I've been wondering…"

"…Yeeeah…?"

The tone of his voice made her furrow her brow. "Are you going to take me seriously or not?"

"Completely serious here, I just wish you'd use your mouthwords."

Amy tucked her hands under head as if she were about to sleep. "Has anyone asked you…like…about having a girlfriend or something?"

Well yes, people had, like his parents or the other guys, and there had been leering, a lot of that, especially since his best friend was _of_ the female gender. So he knew what she was getting at. "Uh…yes." He gave a heavy but brief thought to his next words. "You especially."

Her expression gave away that she wasn't surprised.. "Same for me, about you."

"Hm. Yeah. Figured. Pre-tty obvious."

She grinned. "My best friend can't be a boy."

"Mine can't be a girl." He chuckled, causing her to laugh, and they both giggled at the other.

It was very fake, though.

"People think I like you," Amy continued, looking up (which was in fact horizontal, her gaze moving from Rory to the baseboard) and curling her fingers. "And – and I think that's silly –"

"Wait, _I_ like you," he said, and judging by her knee-jerk reaction, she had interpreted it a bit differently. "I mean like – I like you. You're my best friend. Why would I not like you?"

Her eyes calmed before she kicked him in the ankle. "Not like _that_, I mean – you know."

"Like…"

Amy's voice took on a mocking tone. "'You can't be that close with Williams, he's a _boooooy_'." The pitch changed. "'Admit it Pond, you fancy him!'" And then again. "'Aren't you two doing anything on the side?'" She frowned, folding her arms across her chest (awkwardly). "I don't see what the big deal is."

"Y – yeah, I don't either." Rory looked down at his feet, fighting the blood from going to his face. "It's uh – it's not better on my end, though it's…lot more…raunchy." He scrunched his eyes closed and shook his head. He tried, very hard, to hang out with the other guys, but sometimes, he had to hide his squeamishness on the delicacies of life.

Rory kept his eyes shut as he spoke. "They – sometimes – the other guys they – they say some horrible things sometimes."

Amy tilted her head back. "Oh…?"

"Well, like – like they – they talk about girls, and – and because I'm there, they talk about _you_, and, and stuff like…like…"

"…Oh. Yeah. I – I get it."

But his mouth kept running. "You know last month, when I got detention? And I didn't tell you why? It was because Joel Massie said you'd be – you'd be – easy."

He couldn't see it, but Amy had her eyes wide open, mouth agape slightly.

"So…I punched him."

There was a long silence – long enough for Rory to open his eyes and lift his gaze. Amy was staring at him, but her eyes had softened and she was smiling, although sadly.

"You didn't have to do that," she murmured, looking to the floor.

"But – I did. Because…you'd do the same for me…uh…you…have."

"…Oh. Yeah." Four years ago, during the summer break, when someone said Rory was a weak-willed boy and hardly could be called a "man" since he following her around.

"…Rory…"

"…Yeah?"

Both of them looked at each other, though Amy's eyes were threatening to close. "I…have a secret too. Something I've never told you."

"…Oh."

"…I…_mmmf_…what they say – what all the girls say to me, it's…it's right."

It took the longest moment for that to settle in his head. "…Oh."

"…Sorry."

"No! No – it's – no." Rory couldn't believe it, his whole body flailing as his arms flung out and grabbed onto hers without even realizing it. "I – it's – same."

"Wait – what?"

His mouth stammered before actual words came out. "I know we say we're just friends but I – it's – I – I really like you. A…lot."

There was more staring, a bit more awkward this time what with Rory clutching Amy's wrists, but it was broken by her making the first move, wiggling forward to close the distance between the two of them.

"Rory…"

He swallowed. "Y-yeah?"

"…You realize we just told each other we like each other more than we say we like each other while under the kitchen table where we were doing algebra homework?"

"Well…when you say it like that…it's a bit…weird."

Amy giggled, curling in her lips as she lowered her arms, forcing Rory to do the same. She hesitated, twitching in and out a few times before taking a breath and kissing him lightly on the lips.

Rory thought he was going to melt, dazed at what had transpired and absolutely uncaring of anything else. Dirt on the floor? Homework to do? So what? The only thing that could ruin the moment was –

"What are you two doing under the table?"

"…Hey Aunt Sharon..."


End file.
